Colorado Drivers Targeted When Traveling Through Kansas
Have you ever felt targeted by law enforcement when traveling through other states just because you have a Colorado license plate? Everybody knows that marijuana is legal here but in lots of surrounding states it is still illegal so when law enforcement in surrounding states see Colorado license plates it could give them more of a reason to pull us over, at least that has been the case when traveling through the state of Kansas.
A federal court filing on Thursday stated that the Kansas Highway Patrol has been unlawfully targeting motorists based on their out-of-state license plates. Statistics are showing that 93% of all of the agency's traffic stops in 2017 were made up of out-of-state plates.
At this point, there are 33 states that have decided to legalize medical marijuana and 11 that have legalized medical and recreational marijuana.
As a Colorado resident, it upsets me thinking that traveling to states where marijuana isn't legal would automatically make me a target for law enforcement. While I understand law enforcement officers are just doing their job and marijuana isn't federally legal to target drivers with Colorado plates is completely unacceptable.
Have you ever felt targeted when traveling out of the state of Colorado just because of your license plates?
I will say that I have seen multiple officers here in Grand Junction with K-9 officers searching vehicles for illegal substances. It very clear that they are serious about making sure drivers are not behind the wheel when intoxicated whether it be alcohol or marijuana.